“In today’s world, if you work with teens, then you can’t afford not to schedule a presentation featuring John Crudele. Simply put: he’s the best!” — Thomas E. McNally, HS Principal

Welcome to John Crudele in the News!

With over 25 years experience, John Crudele is known as a speaker, author and coach who relates to his audience in a very personal and profound way. More than two million people have been inspired by his stories, attracted to his authenticity and challenged by his candor.

Click on the titles below to read some of the articles written about John Crudele.

Human trafficking forum to highlight local reality of global problem.

It couldn’t happen here, you may tell yourself. Children in this community couldn’t fall victim to human sex trafficking. Not here.

But earlier this year, a 13-year-old girl from Savage was moments away from possibly being swept away into sexual slavery. The girl believed she had met a 14-year-old boy from another state on the Internet, and the boy promised her a better life if she went to live with him. The girl packed her things and left, but officers who responded to a missing person report located her at the Minneapolis Greyhound Bus terminal before she had a chance to leave.

Authorities believe that it wasn’t a 14-year-old boy the girl had met online, but rather a man or men who planned to condemn her to a life of forced prostitution. Whoever was behind the “boy’s” account instructed the girl on how to cover her path.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only human trafficking-related call law enforcement officials in Scott County have received this year. In fact, the Twin Cities area was recently named the 13th largest center for child prostitution in the nation, and Minnesota leads the nation in terms of youth runaways per capita. That’s significant, because approximately 50 percent of sex trafficking victims are runaway youth.

To help bring awareness to the issue, the Savage Police Department is hosting a free community meeting in the Prior Lake High School auditorium, 7575 150th St., Savage, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24. The event is co-sponsored by the Shakopee Police Department, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, the Scott County Attorney’s Office, St. Francis Regional Medical Center and Associated Bank of Savage.

FOCUS ON PREVENTION

Speaking at the event will be Rodney Seurer, Savage chief of police, and Ann Quinn, a special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension who works on human trafficking cases with Homeland Security. Both will give local perspectives on the issue.

“Human trafficking, including child prostitution, is a growing problem across the nation, including here in Minnesota,” Quinn wrote in an email to the Savage Pacer. “The pimps will move from place to place in an effort to evade law enforcement and their victims are getting younger.”

Quinn said that Minnesota has been a hot spot for human trafficking ever since the issue first came to light in the 1970s. She also said that victims are usually recruited “through friends, family or associates,” but that “pimps and traffickers are also searching for victims through social media sites.”

That’s why Daryn Kral, the computer forensics investigator for Scott County, will also be speaking at Thursday’s meeting. Kral said he will be talking about Internet safety, how parents can protect their kids and what red flags parents should look out for. However, Kral warns that monitoring the family computer may not be enough.

“Kids aren’t really using computers as much as they’re using cell phones [with Internet access] these days,” said Kral. “If they’re trying to hide something from their parents, they can take their cell phone into their bedroom.”

Kral said kids can now get apps on their cell phones – and even their iPods – that allow them to message with other people without text messaging. These apps can make it easier for them to hide who they’re talking to.

Kral agreed with Quinn that teens usually get lured into human trafficking through acquaintances, but that “sometimes these kids will go online in social media and they’ll meet people who obviously they have no idea who they are or where they are, and some of these predators who are online will lure kids over time, what we call ‘grooming them,’ and then try to get a meeting set up with that child.”

While the perception may be that human trafficking is a “big city” issue, Kral said that is not the case. “It’s a growing issue,” said Kral, “and it’s not just in the inner cities. It’s happening everywhere. Kids can get on the Internet anywhere, from a small town to a big city. If your child gets on social media and starts talking to these predators, it doesn’t matter where you are.”

KEEPING TEENS HAPPY

Also speaking at the event will be John Crudele, a Savage resident who travels the country speaking about teen health, among other topics, and is the co-author of “Making Sense of Adolescence: How to Parent from the Heart.” Because approximately half of human trafficking victims are youth runaways, Crudele will speak to parents about ways to make sure their children are safe, healthy and making good decisions.

“My background has been one of an advocate for young people and communicating their needs to the adults that care about them,” explained Crudele. “Young people need to be listened to, they need to feel taken seriously, they need to feel significant.”

Crudele said that “when you have a secure child who is connected in the home with their parents, where they feel like a contributing part of the family, they are going to be less vulnerable to being wooed away by other people into relationships that will be unhealthy for them and out them at risk… You have vulnerable young people, and those young people are desperate for attachment from somewhere.”

Kral said families should come to Thursday’s meeting because “it’s going to be an eye opener for a lot of people.”

Quinn agreed. “Being informed is the first step to being safe,” she wrote. “Attendees will learn about the issue of human trafficking and about how to protect their children. Hopefully this will start a lot of important conversations back at home.”

Speaker Urges Students to Make Good Decisions.

By Pauline Schreiber/Staff Writer/Faribault Daily News

FARIBAULT — Surviving adolescence is a challenge for each new generation.

John Crudele attempted to help Faribault Junior High School students make sense of such a confusing time in their lives when bodily changes are paramount and adults “just don’t seem to understand things.”

The expert on youth and family issues pre­sented programs to each grade level at the school Wednesday. His presentations were part of the junior high school’s Awareness Week. Organized by the junior high Students Together Offering Peer Support (STOPS) group, activities during the week are intended to encourage students to make positive choices in life and stay away from cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs.

“Everyone can get through anything if they reach out for help,” Crudele told students.

He speaks from experience. His father committed suicide when he was a 10th grader.

“Tears are like gas. If you hold them in, you hurt. Let them out. Find someone to listen and share your feelings,” Crudele said.

The author of “Making Sense of Adolescence: How to Parent From the Heart,” “Teen Power,” and “PreTeen Power & Teen EmPower,” Crudele’s books offer advice to teens and their parents and teachers.

“There are no winners or losers in life. There are choosers,” Crudele told the students.“Choosing not to use tobacco, alcohol and other drugs shows respect for yourself,” Crudele said. Too often younger teens accept an alcoholic drink or drugs from older peers because they crave acceptance.

“How far can we go without being caught? That is the thought of many adults as well as young people in our society today,” Crudele said. Instead, he suggested students choose to respect themselves by turning away from negative behavior.

“Young people often turn to drugs and alcohol to deaden emotional pain,” he said. Instead, Crudele told his young audience to find someone they trust to talk about what is bothering them.

“High school students often put up walls to keep people out. Mature people take down walls and share their problems and pain,” he said.

“Concentrate on what you do have, rather than what you don’t have. Instead of feeling bad by not belonging to a particular peer group, be thankful for the friends who love you for who you are,” Crudele added.

“And don’t take yourself for granted. Too often kids believe they can change their habits later and use drugs and alcohol when they are young. That baggage, however, goes with you for the rest of your life,” he said. “Each one of you is special. Value yourself,” he said. “Make choices that are in your best interest.”

Besides his presentations at the junior high school, Crudele spoke Tuesday night at First English Lutheran Church to parents and their preteen and teen children.

The junior and senior high STOPS groups plan a Community Awareness Day Saturday at the Faribo West Mall to encourage adults to help young people choose positive behaviors.

Red Ribbon Speaker Tells Parents the Greatest Gift They Can Give Is Time.

By Beverly Ventura/Ozaukee Press Staff

Parents need to spend time with their children, creating positive memories they can carry forward the rest of their lives. That was the message to parents from John Crudele during Red Ribbon Week in Ozaukee County.

He spoke with parents, middle school and high school students in area schools at separate presentations throughout the week.

“Research shows parents are the most important influence on children to not use alcohol and drugs and the most important source of information regarding drug and alcohol-related decisions,” he told parents. “They rank second behind peers as a source of help.”

“If parents aren’t spending time creating memories with their children, someone else will,” he said. “That someone is likely to be peers, who may influence a child or teen in negative ways.”

“Children spell love T-I-M-E,” he said.

He reminded parents they make choices about what they participate in through­out their children’s lives. Activities done with a “have to” attitude will lead to resentment.

“A ‘choose to’ attitude leads to sweetness,” he said.

Seven attributes for self worth and identity.

Crudele suggested parents enhance self esteem and create a strong sense of identity within their children. “Children will be able to resist peer pressure toward negative activities only when they have a strong sense of self-worth,” he said.

The seven attributes he talked about for doing that are:

Acceptance by parents (and other adults) leads to security in children.

Appreciation leads to children feeling significance.

Affection leads to feelings of being loveable.

Parents being available leads to children feeling valuable and important.

Holding children accountable leads to children developing a sense of responsibility.

Knowing what authority is leads to teens knowing how to give respect.

Acknowledging children’s efforts leads them to know effort comes before success and being comes before effort.

According to Crudele, who punctuated his presentation with rapid-fire examples and stories, children or teens need those seven attributes to have the strength to resist alcohol, tobacco or drug-related pressures from peers. He pointed out parents may not want to hear that their own behaviors are contributing to negative behaviors in their children.

“If I’m pointing a finger and you want to bite it off, at least look at the direction the finger is pointing before you do,” Crudele said.

Sometimes parents need to seek help to resolve unhealthy baggage they are carrying from their own upbringing before they can do a healthy job as a parent.

“We often help everyone but ourselves,” he said.

Crudele, who has no children of his own, expressed sympathy for the tough job parents have raising children in a con­fusing world.

“Children are the only really big thing we have that do not come with an owner’s manual,” he said.

“Schools can teach general values,” he said, “but parents have to define their personal standards for appropriate behavior. Then they have to stick to them, even when children protest.”

“Take a stand for your kids. You have the greatest opportunity,” he said.

Parents must teach children their expectations for right and wrong behavior. Only when standards are clearly defined can children know when they are being responsible and be held accountable.

“Don’t bail kids out on the little things. They need to face themselves and the consequences of what they do,” Crudele said.

“Make your expectations with your kids like a job description. Then they can feel secure they’re doing, or not doing, what is expected of them.”

Looking at what parents accept

Crudele challenged parents to look at their own attitudes toward drug and alcohol use. Allowing teens to consume or serve alcohol at a graduation party, for instance, gives a mixed message about consumption.

“Make sure the message you are giving them isn’t, ‘Don’t get caught,’” he said. “Right and wrong do matter.”

He also reminded parents to let children know they are loved for themselves, not their behavior. “Don’t just praise them when they do well on something. Tell them you think they’re special at all times, not just when they have gotten an A or scored a goal,” he said.

“I cannot feel secure if love is given on a performance basis,” he said. “Don’t connect your love to their behavior. That leads to children feeling ‘If I’m not doing something right, I’m not lovable.”

Crudele is the author of four books, including “Making Sense of Adolescence: How to Parent from the Heart.”

He has written numerous articles about youth and family issues and appeared on national radio and television programs.

Parenting Expert Maintains Child’s Point of View

By Gail White/The VindicatorI had just begun a phone interview with John Crudele, a profes­sional speaker and author who will be addressing parents at St. Charles Church this Thursday evening on “Go Make Some Memories.”

I dislike phone interviews. I would rather be sitting in front of my subject, looking into his eyes, taking note of the gestures and mannerisms.

Sometimes situations necessitate a phone interview. John, living in Minnesota, was such a situation.

I look forward to meeting John in per­son as he speaks at St. Charles. I know I will have no trouble recognizing him. He will be the one who looks like he has the energy of 10 people.

John is a ball of fire.

Can’t keep up: As we began talking over the phone, I immediately wished I had a tape recorder. My fingers simply could not keep up.

“Everything we do creates a memory for our children,” he began. “We remember what is present, and we remember what is not present.”

I was desperately trying to write down every morsel of information when John said, “Just a minute…” Thankful for the reprieve, I finished writing his latest thought.

“Had to put my headset on,” he said when he returned, “I like to walk when I talk.” I knew I was in trouble. This man has a passion for his work that overwhelms him. He is a freight train that can’t be stopped. And it is contagious. I found myself wanting to pace back and forth with him. “That’s right!” I was yelling. “Absolutely!” Materialism: “What are you creating for your children?” he asked. “Do you work long hours so you can buy more things?”

John questions this mentality so preva­lent in our society. “The things that we define love by are often not the things they [children] love,” he contended.

“Look at where you find your identity,” he insisted. “You can pay bills, mow the lawn, cook dinner. These things don’t really have meaning.”

True, lasting meaning comes from a different source. “Not in work, but in rela­tionships,” John said, referring to both personal and spiritual relationships.

“Do you HAVE to go to work…come home…take your child to school?” he asked, “or do you WANT to?” The attitude will make all the difference.

In line with all he was saying, my ener­gy beginning to match his, I felt com­pelled to unveil the driving force behind this ball of fire.

“How many children do you have?” I asked.

“None,” he responded. I was surprised.

“Married?” I asked, already suspecting the answer. If this man were married, he would have children. “No,” he answered.

Anti-drug program is a hit at Ar-We-Va

By Bret Hayworth/Times Herald News WriterWESTSIDE — In three sessions Thursday with students and parents of the Ar-We-Va School District, motivational speaker John Crudele hammered home an anti-drug theme.

Crudele, who similarly spoke last year at Coon Rapids-Bayard Schools, is renowned for his ability to engagingly inform youth and parents on strategies for keeping kids drug-free.

In the afternoon session with K-5 students, Crudele had the pupils chanting “Be Smart. Don’t Start,” as aided by fifth-grader Ben Nolbling. He had six students squeeze into a huge sweater bearing the phrase “Just Say No,” and concluded the day by recounting a long list of ways to turn down drugs.

He quickly moved through an inventory that included, “No,” “No, thanks,” “Not a chance,” “Not for me,” “Forget it,” “I don’t believe in it,” “No way,” “Don’t be crazy,” “No and don’t ask again,” concluding with “No—period.” Crudele then slapped hands with each pupil as they exited the Westside gym.

DeAnn Leiting, the at-risk school liaison officer at Ar-We-Va, noted that the morning session for grades 6-12 was so well received that the time allotted was extended from 1 1/2 hours to two hours. “It was fantastic, they were just eating it up,” Leiting said.

When Crudele told a story about youth respecting their parents and that his own father had committed suicide, many students were visibly crying. In addition, Crudele spoke at length to the adolescents about smoking, alcohol, drugs and sex.

The sixth- through 12th-grade students completed follow-up session questionnaires and Leiting was reviewing those this morning. Many wrote that he was the best speaker they had ever heard at school.

“We are definitely planning on having him come back in the future,” Leiting said. “He just did a great job.” As for the parents’ meeting in the evening, it lasted two hours and the Ar-We-Va crowd numbered over 200. “we were just thrilled with the crowd we had,” Leiting said. “I am really proud of our parents. Everyone seemed really pleased.”

A big part of the parents’ discussion centered on how to relate to one’s children, Leiting said. One notable point was in Crudele telling the parents, Leiting said, that “kids spell love T-­I-M-E. You have to spend time with your kids to show them love. And you need to tell your kids you love them, not just say it, but show it.”

Normally stoic fathers really seemed to grab onto the message, Leiting said. Afterwards, both men and women hung around to question Crudele personally. “You wouldn’t believe all the parents who came up for a hug,” Leiting recounted.

Crudele is a Minneapolis, Minn.-based speaker and his visit was sponsored by Ar-We­Va Community School, the Ar-We-Va Action Team and the Carrollton Inn of Carroll.

Author Helps Parents with Parenting

This was the main question posed to area parents who attended a special Wednesday evening presentation by nationally-known speaker John Crudele at Regina High School.

An expert on youth and family issues, Crudele is also the author of the book, Making Sense of Adolescence: How to Parent from the Heart. He has appeared on such pop­ular talk shows as Jenny Jones and The Ricki Lake Show. Joe Dwyer was one of the 120 people in the audience at Regina Wednesday night. The Iowa City man has two children attending Regina schools: Julie is a seventh-grader and John is a fourth-grader.

Dwyer said that he ventured out into the cold Wednesday evening to hear Crudele speak because he took the responsibility of parenting most seriously.

“There are no real experts, so I’ve always remained open to new ideas,” he said.

“I’m interested in learning what seems to be working and finding out new ways to keep the lines of communication open between my children and me.”

Crudele began his presentation by telling his audience that parenting should be a privilege enjoyed by all.

“I spoke with Regina kids earlier today and spent one hour and 15 minutes with them,” he said.

“I felt privileged just to get that time with them. You get them every day. Do you feel privileged as well?”

He told parents that their children are mirrors of the environment in which they were raised.

“So, if we don’t like the kids being turned out these days, does that mean we need to fix the kids?” he asked. Crudele warned his audience that such thinking is usually more detrimental than beneficial.

He recommended changing a child’s living environment if parents are dissatisfied with their son’s or daughter’s development and growth.

“You are your kids’ primary teachers,” Crudele told the rapt listeners. “They reflect exactly what you have taught them. Thus, we all need to help provide an environment in which kids will be able to feel loved.”

In a handout to audience members, Crudele listed ways to develop capable people out of young children. These ways include:

Listen to them.

Take them seriously.

Avoid adultisms.

Make them an important contributing part of something that you do.

Take time to explore their perceptions.

Give them a chance to be involved validly in your emotional life.

Give them the dignity of seeking them out for advice or involvement.

Keep appointments with them as equally serious as appointments with others.

Find ways to trickle in your love and support randomly. Otherwise, your child will equate levels of love and rejection with their behavior, which may lead to their insecurities.

Show recognition and appreciation versus praise.

Ways to Teach Values

Parents may share, teach and model their values to their children in many effective ways. These include:

Knowing your children’s whereabouts, activities and friends.

Providing consistent guidance.

Encouraging self-discipline through giving children everyday duties and holding them accountable for their actions.

Witty one-liners and clever comebacks help Crudele bring a message to students

By Andy Tomec/The Sault Star

A few memorable comeback lines from the John Crudele school of sexual abstinence:

“Do you wanna sit in the back seat?” “No, I’d rather sit up here with you.”

“C’mon, everybody’s doing it.” “Great, then you should have no trouble finding somebody else.”

“It’d only take a minute.” “What? Do I look like a microwave?”

“Baby, you’re one in a million.” “Yeah, well so are your chances.”

With the flawless timing of a stand-up comic and an endless arsenal of sharp one-liners at hand, Crudele is just about the hippest thing this bleary-eyed crowd of Bawating Collegiate students could have expected at 9 a.m. on a school day.

After a few minutes he’s got these teens wrapped around his proverbial finger. Which is pretty surprising, considering that the message this motivational speaker is preaching runs counter to every “if it feels good do it” rock video and beer commercial this crowd has ever been bombarded with.

Strip away the charm, the suave good looks and the witty rapport, and Crudele’s message really isn’t much different from the advice many of these kids have received— and, in all likelihood, ignored—from dear old Mom: don’t mess with drugs, smoking will kill you, sex can wait.

Tying it all together is a theme of no-compromise abstinence.

Too many teens, he says, have convinced themselves they can afford to make all the mistakes they want now and save the luxury of having regrets for later.

“High school is not a dress rehearsal for life. It IS life,” he tells them.

“You become what you practice, you live what you learn and you can’t unexperience what you learn.”

The stand-up routine has fallen by the wayside now, as Crudele moves in for the kill.

“Magic Johnson didn’t believe that having sex with 200 or so people would hurt him. And now Magic Johnson is going to die of AIDS,” he says.

“Magic can be forgiven for his choices, but he’s still going to have to live with the consequences of them.”

Crudele is spending three days in the Sault as part of the Algoma’s Children’s Aid Society’s Children’s Week celebration.

In his many years on the North American speaking circuit, the Minnesota native estimates he’s delivered his popular motivational schtick to more than a million high school and elementary students, teachers and parents.

From a troubled home himself (as teens, his sister was bulimic, and his brother became a drug addict), he has a keen understanding of the temptations and fears facing teens in today’s world.

If more are succumbing to the drug abuse, alcoholism, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases today than did during his generation, he believes it’s because many of them are being brought up without the same level of support from institutions like family, community and church.

As outmoded as some of those concepts have come to appear, Crudele argues they gave kids a moral compass—a toolbox of beliefs to help them work through the everyday dilemmas and temptations teenagers face.

“More and more we expect kids to teach themselves. That’s not the way it was when we were growing up,” he says in an interview.

There’s an emptiness in kids’ lives today—a void,” he adds.

“I tell them that all vacuums suck. It’s got to get filled with something. And if it’s not filled with goodness, it’s going to be filled with something else.”

Although the main thrust of Crudele’s take-responsibility-for-your-life message is aimed at teens, he maintains it’s the adults who must bear the final responsibility for the way our teens turn out.

You won’t find the reason for teens’ bad behavior in their genes, he says, but in what they’ve been taught by example.

“It’s up to us as adults to begin living those things that we ask you to live,” he tells the group.

Conference Tries to Bring Parents, Children Closer Together

Communication was the theme this week when hundreds of local parents and teens attended Santa Clarita’s fifth annual Teen Scene Unplugged.

“It’s OK to cry, it’s OK to hurt (and) it’s OK to ask for help,” keynote speaker John Crudele told an audience of more than 500 Wednesday at the Hyatt Valencia.

“The walls you put up to keep other people out,” he said, “are the same walls that keep you in.”

Teen Scene is organized by the city’s Blue Ribbon Task Force to bring parents and their teens together in an environment where discussions of youth issues are encouraged. Topics discussed in the past have included drug and alcohol abuse, teen preg­nancy and gang-related issues.

The lobby of the hotel’s conference center was packed with booths and information from local youth outreach groups including the Blue Ribbon Task Force, Safe Rides, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and others.

The overarching theme for Wednesday’s event was “Connect, Communicate and Cope During the Teenage Years,” with Crudele—a Minneapolis-based youth motivational speaker—calling on parents and teens to pursue and remain open to genuine communication.

Turning his attention to the high-schoolers in attendance, Crudele exhorted them, “Young people, we believe in you.”

“Don’t tell me what you’re not, tell me who you are and what you want to become,” he said.

Crudele, 46, said his father’s suicide when Crudele was 15 thrust him into adulthood.

“Losing my dad and being the oldest (of four children) put me in a parental role,” he said.

He has been speaking “from a little light inside” for 22 years, and said that time has made him bold­er in his delivery.

“Approach the people you have left in your life,” Crudele said in his closing remarks, prior to a question-and-answer ses­sion. “I’ve said ‘I love you’ to my father more times since he died.”

Darren Brewster, a junior at Hart High School, said he has a good relationship with his parents but hopes Crudele’s message inspired a little more trust.

“Teens don’t just always go out to get messed up,” he said.

A father of three, Rodrigo Fuenes of Castaic said the seminar gave him “tools to work with.” Fuentes said he wants his children to understand “you’re there for them, (and) you don’t want them to make the same mistakes (you did).”

Crudele left teens with a bit of simple wisdom, saying, “Maybe the answer you’re looking for is sitting beside you.”

PLHS Students Respond to Crudele’s Presentation on Values with Tears & Hugs

By Claire Robling/Staff Writer

For hundreds of students at Prior Lake High School, last week’s early morning talk by John Crudele turned into a healing service for wounded feelings.

Following a presentation in which the nationally-acclaimed motivational speaker emphasized the community’s values of courage, education, family, honesty, human worth and dignity, respect and responsibilty, Crudele invited students to come forward and share some of their feelings, stories and values with the other students.

There was a long pause, but then a sen­ior took the microphone and gave an emotional account about how her father’s alcoholism had adversely affected the lives of the members of her family. When she finished, she was supported by loud applause and hugs from fellow students.

As students sat attentively, other students came forward and shared their stores of personal tragedies and successes.

At the end, Jeff Borchardt came to the microphone. Borchardt, 16, had been driving a vehicle that rolled over the previous weekend, resulting in a serious spinal cord injury that may cause permanent paralysis for Adam McCord, a friend and a PLHS sophomore.

Borchardt tearfully told the assembled students that his life had turned into a nightmare, along with Adam’s, because of what had happened. He apologized to the students for his role in the accident, saying he understood if everyone hated him.

But instead of showing disdain, the students literally poured out of their seats to support. They hugged him and each other as tears poured down their cheeks.

“At that moment, I really felt the unity and love that this school has and how much we really do care about each other,” an 11th grade student wrote after the program.

Another student wrote that following the presentation, some of her friends who had been fighting “for the longest time, and I have been in the middle of,” apologized to each other. “And another friend finally could cry and know that she did have friends to lean on,” she continued.

Christie Thorsen reported that there was a “sense of togetherness. I turned to look at my friend and she was crying and asked me for a hug. She grabbed me and sobbed, saying, “I’m glad that I met you.”

Another student wrote on Friday, “Yesterday I felt many feelings. To start out I felt happy, then sad, then proud. But the best thing I felt was unity. Out of the six years I’ve attended Prior Lake schools, I’ve always felt everyone separated themselves from one another, didn’t want anyone to see them cry or do what is right and help people out. They always wanted to seem strong and bad.”

A ninth grader stated: “I wish that this school would pull together on other occasions like we all did today. I thought it was great how everyone was sharing their feel­ings and expressing how they felt about all the situations.”

Junior Jennifer Bergstrom said she per­sonally benefited from Crudele’s visit and believes her classmates did too.

“Some of the lessons learned may be forgotten next week, or even tomorrow, but it was very moving to see the way our school can pull together. The support was astonishing. The support of friends and family is something I value very much. The support of this community is something I will miss when I move next year. However, I will forever have in my heart the memory of Prior Lake High at its best. The memory of tear-streaked strangers, clinging to each other in support and acceptance—I will always cherish and value that memory (and others) and the lifelong friends I have made at PLHS.”

One 11th grade student expressed these thoughts: “I wish all of Prior Lake could have heard Mr. Crudele’s presentation.

They you all could have come together with us and cried and have had one goal in common—to make things better around our town. Things haven’t been going real great around here, and our ‘bad luck’ isn’t going to end if we ignore it. Let’s face reality and make things better.”

Dave Nyhus wrote: “(Crudele) told us what is right and wrong, and that we don’t have to use drugs and alcohol to have a good time, or just plain fit in. His presentation made an enormous amount of sense…Having John Crudele at PLHS, for me, was the best thing that’s happened here in a very long time.”

Some students said the unity and empathy expressed during the assembly was wonderful, but they expressed doubts that it would make any difference in the long run.

Amy Sevik said she heard those com­ments expressed frequently, and she said they are correct “if we take that negative attitude about it. It’s going to require an individual effort from everyone to keep from reverting back to the ‘I don’t care’ frame of mind our school was in. The best thing we can do is to follow the theme of Values Week: ‘Treat others as you want to be treated.’ Being respectful of each other is the first step to heal our school’s pain.”

Did you know?

The average age of entry into prostitution by minors is 12-14 years old.

The Twin Cities area was recently named the 13th largest center for childhood prostitution in the nation

Minnesota ranks No. 1 in the nation per capita in terms of youth runaways

Approximately 50% of sex trafficking victims are runaway youth

An estimated 8,000-12,000 women and children are being sold for sexual service in Minnesota

Tips for parents

Because approximately half of human trafficking victims are youth runaways, it’s important for parents to create an environment where teenagers feel comfortable and safe. Savage resident and teen health expert John Crudele offers the following tips:

Listen to them: “When someone listens to them, and I mean fully shows up and listens to them and takes them seriously, they’re going to feel a sense of attachment and a connection with that person. Listen first and teach second.”

Make them an important, contributing part of the family: “It’s about making them feel valued.”

Don’t tell kids they’re going through a phase: “It’s a phase when you’re looking at it through a rearview mirror, it’s their life when they’re in the middle of it… By saying that, you just discredited what they’re going through.”

Show recognition and appreciation instead of praise: “You want to acknowledge specific accomplishments. Saying ‘You’re so wonderful,’ is praise, but acknowledging what they did is more important.”

Allow for natural and logical consequences: “Hold them accountable for choices they make instead of bailing them out. If we don’t hold our kids accountable for the little things, when they get to the big things, they’re going to think that life isn’t fair and it’s going to lead to a victim mentality.”

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